Bugger the ED, just look at the elective surgeries!

A new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report shows record levels of elective surgery operations performed and significant improvements in elective surgery waiting times in the ACT during 2012-2013.

Released today, the Australian hospital statistics 2012-13, elective surgery waiting times, reports that 11,628 operations were completed in the ACT – up 2.3% on the previous year and higher than the Australian average of 1.8%.

“This result shows that the investment made in the 2012-13 budget of an additional $3 million per annum into the elective surgery program is paying dividends for patients, increasing the number of operations performed at both Canberra and Calvary Hospitals with a small number performed in the private sector,” Chief Minister and Minister for Health Katy Gallagher said today.

“Other improvements in the report include achieving a 31% improvement in the median waiting times for elective surgery over the past 5 years, decreasing from the peak of 74 days in 2008-09 to 51 days in this reporting year.

“This improvement sees the ACT virtually on par with NSW (50 days) and moving closer to the national average of 36 days.

What’s Your opinion?

It’s a positive step though. I mean, despite the name most ‘elective surgeries’ aren’t frivolous crap like nose-jobs or liposuction but surgery that can have a significant impact on the quality of life of the person undergoing it and the wait times are ridiculous. I mean, waiting for 5 hours in the ED with a broken arm is crap, but it’s worse to have to limp around on a crippled knee waiting indefinitely for corrective surgery because it counts as ‘elective’.

Yeah it’s important to remember that “elective” doesn’t mean “optional.” It just means that there’s no medical reason why it has to happen with any particular urgency so it’s better to make an appointment to do it at the surgeon’s convenience and when you can give your family a bit of notice to come and help you recover. It certainly doesn’t mean that the appointment can be far away into the future or that you won’t be suffering during the wait.